There is great concern among wheat farmers in the Western Cape about the current very poor production conditions being experienced, chairman of farmer organisation Grain South Africa Bully Botma said in a statement on Monday.
“This is especially so in the Swartland, where the possibility of any crop seems remote,” he added.
The average yields in this area during the previous season, according to the Crop Estimate Committee figures, is 2,45 tons per hectare, with a total production of 938 350 tons.
Current estimates in the area indicate a possible crop this season of about 400 000 tons at 1,25 tons per hectare on 320 000 hectares.
Further rain was required to reach this expected yield, Botma added. The Western Cape traditionally produces more wheat than is consumed in the region and prices under normal circumstances are lower than in the central areas of South African as a result of transport costs needed to move the wheat to the interior.
If the Western Cape does not produce enough wheat for consumption in that region, then very little or no wheat will be taken out of the area.
“Producers in the Western Cape should then also be entitled, like other regions, to get a price based on import parity in the event of a shortage,” Botma said.
It is important for the survival of wheat producers in the Western Cape as well as the communities in these production areas that wheat prices are transparent and formed according to free market principles, he added. – I-Net Bridge